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ISSUED SEMX-WBBHL^ i. m. grist ft sons, Pnbu.her.,} % ^amitg gtupgpgtr4?r ?romotiiro of the golilicat, fatial, g^rituHural, and Cmnrotucial Jiriypto tf the ftoglt. {TKRM8iMOM?ooiT1[^B'c^*''CE' ESTABLISHED 1855. YOEKVILLE, 8. C., 8ATUEDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1902. NO. 96. || THE M g OF GR/ *9 . | M Cowrloht, J90U by Charles D. EUur v CHAPTER XV. NESLEBOV KNOWS HIS PERIL. ABOUT the time Governor Nesle n-no Aiiolnv hlmoolf fmrr MB iu* nao ivuoiu^ ?- ?? J| jL a deep slumber which had no' refreshed him after the ball Jansky, superintendent of police, waf groaning and muttering In his own ef forts to wake up. He knew he wat awake, but the effect of the heavy druf was still upon him. Itzlg, however having succumbed to a lesser quantity than was taken by Jansky, was soonei awake and had been relieved by th< day guard and gone to his own quar ters. The first question Neslerov askec was for Princess Olga. When he learn ed that she was still sleeping, he weni to see Jansky. "What is the matter with you?" he asked. "You seem to be ill." "I do feel rather ill," said Jansky. "1 don't know tflien I felt like this." "You were drunk; that's all. You were drunk when I left you. Did you drink any more?" "Yes; in making the round of Inspection I discovered Itzig asleep and a bottle of wine half gone. I drank the rest." "Itzig asleep! At his post! And this danger near us?" "Pooh! The girl suspects nothing. A girl of her age. even though she be a princess, could not dissemble so well. I tell you Olga suspects nothing." "Then why is she here?" "Well, she Is eccentric, as you know, and it is quite possible that she would HI"* Kn tho nrlfo nt thp ffOTPITlOr Of line iv w ww D- * ?? Tomsk." Neslerov laughed. "She would like to kill him, rather." "Even so. she does not suspect" "But this thing of Itzig being asleep at his post?we must examine Into It" "The poor devil wanted his share In the festivities, I suppose. We must not deal too severely with him. He certainly did not steal the wine. Some one must have given It to him." "Who? I must find that out But, since he has been asleep, you had better examine the prisoners." "They are there all right. How could they be otherwise." "But you know what It means to me If they escape." "Escape! I will stake my head they cannot escape. Why, to pass out from the dungeons they must open the Iron gate and the door of the guardroom. See, here is the key to the guardroom door." "Still," said Neslerov hesitatingly, "I wish you would make an examination." "Oh, If your excellency wishes it, I will do so gladly. But I promise you they are there." TfincW wnn ntlll stiinld fmm the drugged wine, but he knew what he was doing. He went to the guardroom and unlocked the door leading to the dungeons. In the passage he obtained a lantern and passed through the Iron gate. He went down the stairs and through the passages, which he knew well, to the dungeon. He entered and stood horror stricken at the empty chains hanging on the wall. With fear In his heart he crept back to the stairs, glancing nervously around him, for he knew the strength of the American. Neslerov, to whom he went, looked In surprise at the ashen face. "Curses upon us all!" said Jansky hoarsely. "They are gone!" Jansky looked sheepishly at the governor, and Neslerov looked at Jansky like an angry wolf. "Gone! Both prisoners gone!" cried the governor. "Is this true?" "Unfortunately?the thing I thought Impossible Is a fact" Neslerov's face was white. "I thought?you told me?they were both In chains!" he said, his voice strained and tense. "I did, and It was true. With my own hands I chained them. The American was in the dungeon at the first landing and Paulpoff was down In the lower cellar. With my own hands I chained them, and I hold the key to the door. The key to the chains still hangs where I placed It This is a miracle. The men must be devils lu human form." "The American Is something like a devil," said Neslerov grimly, "but I doubt If he has supernatural powers. If those chains have been loosened, Jansky, some human agent has done It, and there Is a traitor In the palace." "Whom does your excellency suspect?" "My cousin Olga." "That girl! She would no more dare go down In those dungeons than she would enter a den of wild beasts. And how could she learn that they were down there?" "It Is not quite a secret Some ol the servants saw them brought In." "Since the princess came the servant! have had enough to do without talking about two prisoners of whom thej know nothing. Anyway, how coulc Olga, who has spent but little time li Russia and none near Graslov or Perm ever hear of the Paulpoffs?" "I know not But certain it is then Is a traitor here. This escape, If escapi It Is, will cost us dear." "If escape It Is! It may not be an es cape after all! The chains are old an< rusty. Perhaps they have given way and the prisoners may be wanderlnj around the passages. I will send fo Itzlg." ??????&???????? ??????????????? ; 1?? i YSTERY H LSLOV i' ly A/hley Towne || baton a ZZ. 199 999999999999999 tit. Ml. Ml j?t Jftt Jt5t jS*. Jftt ?5t JfttJSt j?t Neslerov was terribly disturbed. He paced to aud fro in the police office, and bis face did not regain its color. He was playing for a high stake?the high1 est stake?playiqg for bis life?and the * game seemed lost. ? Jansky sent for Itzig, and be came beJ fore tbeiu. "You went to sleep last night!" thun* dered Jansky, whose theory was that * to obtain the truth from a culprit you * must terrify him at the start. "I swear I did not, your excellency!" r replied Itzig, shivering In terror. i "You lie! I went in the guardroom, " and you were asleep. I found there a 1 portion of a bottle of wine. Who gave " you that?" 1 1 "I! A bottle of wine! 1 never tasted wine in my life. Brandy and vodka, < ? plenty, but wine?I am too poor." I "Oh, you did not buy this wine. Some i 1 one at the fete gave It to you. Who was It?" 1 1 "I know not! 1 swear I know not s 1 who put the wine In my room!" i "You are lying. A tray was also <3 ' there, with dishes. You had your feast c 1 aud got drunk. Who brought the stuff t 1 to you?" r "1 swear no one. If there was a 1 feast. It was some one else's." I "How could any one else eat there e and you not know It?" Itzig saw he was lost t "I may have?perhaps I slept a mo- c ment" c "A moment! You slept hours, and the prisoners you were guarding have b escaped." J "Impossible!" gasped Itzig, almost ? sinking through the floor. I "Enough of this!" said Neslerov. Ii "itzig is here, and if be has permitted i< the men to escape be can be punished i< any time. We are wasting precious ? moments. Let us get down to the dun geous and find them." o Jansky took a pistol, and so did Neslerov. They went to the guardroom, h Jansky took the lantern and opened b the door and Iron gate. He led the way, Neslerov and Itzlg following. h "See? He has gone," said Jansky, ~ "pointing to the chains. si "Are you certain this Is the room?" "Certain? As I am alive." "Then for the other, and keep a watch. They are not armed, but remember PaulpofTs strength, and the F other Is no pygmy." Again Jansky led the way. He did cot tell Neslerov be bad not been to visit Vladimir. In bis agitation at tj finding the American gone he had ae- n sumed, of course, that If one could es- w cape both could. Reaching an obscure d coruer. toward which Denton had not c< chanced to go in his search, they found a another stairway leading downward, a This short flight brought them to a nr horrible place?more horrible than the ei one where Denton had been chained. ir This was a dungeon made cold and b damp by the water that stood two r< Inches deep on the floor, and In which ti blind reptiles that had never seen any tl brighter place crawled around In the t slimy ooze. Long strings of rotten n moss hung from the walls. Here, In i? this noisome and terrible place, was f( Vladimir, chained in the same manner C) as Denton bad been. - - - a ttf "I thought you said ne naa gone 100: h exclaimed Neslerov, a flood of hope y and courage showing in his voice. y "I thought so. In my excitement I tl believed both had gone, but If one Is c] here the other must be. We will 0] search the dungeons." a They did not speak to Vladimir, who n was suffering awful tortures, but turn- w ed and ascended to the upper floor. v Here, winding and turning among the R passages, they crept stealthily?three Q, armed men searching for one man who n 1 was unarmed, yet fearing that the one r) might leap upon them and slay them as v they walked. But they did not And jt the American and returned crestfallen > to the office of the superintendent of 4^ ! police. 4] 1 "That man did not set himself free," v 1 said Neslerov. "Some one who knows * my secret has done this. Olga is here. ig 1 \Vl>o else but Olga could do the thing?" 1 "Did the Princess Olga come to you a 1 during the ball?" Jansky suddenly asked Itzig. "Was It the princess who y i gave you that wine?" C( The pallor of the man's face gave ri ? Jansky his answer. , "Heavens!" he exclaimed. "The wine T > must hnve been drugged! It was Olga a who set him free!" G "Then we must act with extreme cau tion, for if she knows this much she , will ruin me. For a short time we must act as if we did not know the Ameri? ? u-j Trnii on/1 FTn aero i'ttu IlUU I'Si'upfU. uui j v/u uiava w ^ ( tliop must find him?find him?before g, I he get9 out of Tomsk. Then, with him > again in our grasp, I will deal with Olga. Fool, to put her strength against p f mine, and in Tomsk!" ,, "What about Vladimir?" asked JanJ sky. ? J "Leave him alone. Let him starve! J He can do no harm." 1 Jansky went quickly to work. Unsi gethop, upon whom he depended most, . had gone to another place in the dls- p charge of his duty. Jansky made sev? oral fruitless Journeys during the day, 11 s but no trace of the American could he flud. 1 Olga. when, late In the day, she Join- V 1 ed the governor, noticed the studied , calm and the steely glitter of his eye. s' I She knew he had discovered the escape ? r of Denton, but the resolute girl did not s' fear him. She merely nerved herself tJ to finish the work she had set herself to do. She had frequent errands that took her near the office of the superintendent of police, and she kept her ears ilert to catch the slightest whisper. It was evening when she went for the seventh time, and loud voices came from the superintendent's office. So ex I - - , Winding and turning among the passages, they crept stealthily. ;lted were the speakers that they did lot realize that their voices reached nto the halL "I tell you it is so!" said the voice of Jnsgethop, who had returned and who teemed to be angry. "How was I to enow that a man could escape from the lungs, ons? I heard it?that the Amerian had passed through Dorky on his ray to Tivoloffsky. I supposed Nesleov had changed his plans." "Is he going to Tivoloffsky? Old 'aulpoff is still there!" said the gov* rnor. "But explain this thing," said Unsgehop. "How could a man who was hained to the wall In that dungeon get >ut?" "By the help of a traitor, and 1 will mow that traitor and slay him!" said Jeslerov. "Some one drugged some pine, and Jansky, like a fool, drank It Llso Itzig, who guards the door. Dur* ag the time they were asleep the Amercan was set free. The other, Paulpoff, 3 still there. Your work is to capture bat American and bring him here." "If he knows, he may have told Bome ne," suggested Unsgethop. "This is no time to talk! Whether he as told or not, he must be brought ack! If I am to be destroyed, 1 will estroy my enemies first! Go! Bring ;!m back to die!" Olga quickly disappeared up the tairs. TO BE CONTINUED. EUROPE'S MILITARY BURDENS. ranee Beam the Heavlent and RhmHia the Lightest by the Latest FIrnrei. With a population of 57,000,000 inhabiints, Germany now furnishes an anual contingent of 540,000 soldiers, 'hlch must be reduced to 413,000 after educting the exempt from service, acirding to the latest figures given in an rticle in the Courrier des Etats Unis. . considerable share of these 413,000 len are immediately incorporated eithr in the landsturm or in the recruitlg reserve, however, so that the numer of men really incorporated in the Jgular army is only 220,000 men. But lis number is sufficient to bring up le present effective force to 495,000. he men serve with the colors only the jquired time to gain instruction. The ingth of service in the line is two years >r the infantry, three years in the avalry and one year in the train. In Russia, where compulsory service as been in existence for the last 30 ears, the men are obliged to serve five ears in the regular army, 13 years in le reserve and five years in the Opolttienie, which is the same as the reserve f the French territorial army. With population of 132,000,000 Russia furishes annually 980,000 conscripts, of horn about 860,000 are good for serice. Under these circumstances, the overnment can well afford to be generus in the matter of exemptions. Their umber amounts to 400,000, so that the ?al number of men in the regular serice was 308,000 in 1901 and 318,000 in >02. In Austria the annual contingent is "0,000, but the exemptions reduce it to 17,000. The length of the regular serIce is two and a half years. In Italy, where the annual contingent i 315,000, only 205,000 are found to be ood for service, which varies from two nd a half to three years. As to exemption from military serice, in Austria they amount to 50 per ent.; in Germany to 37 per cent.; in taly to 27 per cent.; in France to 21 er cent., and in Russia to 19 per cent, he number of men incorporated in the rmies of France is 78 per cent.; in lermJfflV 51 per cent.; in Austria 40 per int.: in Italy 33 per cent., and in Rusia 29 per cent. The unfit for service re, in France, 21 per cent.; in Geriany 37 per ent.: in Austria 50 per ent.; in Italy 27 per cent., and in Rus ia 19 per cent. Out of every thousand men from the ges of 21 to 60 there are In service In 'ranee 58.4; in Germany 48; in Russia I; in Austria 34; and in Italy 30. In nse of war these figures are increased l Germany to 139; in Austria to 96; in 'ranee to 171; in Italy to 107, and in iussia to 81. These figures show that France, in roportion to population, bears the eaviest military burden and Russia he lightest.?Exchange. t?r "You are in my pew," said Mr. Jpjohn, stiffly. "Then I am sitting in the seat of the L-ornful!" replied the stranger getting ut of it with alacrity and taking a eat farther back in the church? 'p.ssell's Journal. ptetttfonemt# fading. ALEXANDER -HAMILTON. i' Prof. John Fiike'i Comments In a Hitherto Unpublished Manuscript. In the October number of The Cosmopolitan is printed an interesting article of John Fiske's, left unpublished at the time of his death, on the work and character of Alexander Hamilton. It is a critical study of the great Federalist's career from the moment of his obscure birth in the West Indies to the day he fell, a victim to the code duello, on the heights of Weehawken; and it is interesting to observe that each and every act In Hamilton's life, the late Prof. Fiske's commends in the spirit more of the aifdent eulogist than of the discriminating historian. Especially is this -singular prejudice manifested in what Mr. Fiske writes of the closing incident in Hamilton's career, namely the famous duel fought July 11, 1804. It is not too much to say that in his account of that unhappy affair Prof. Fiske blinds hfririself to the truth of history. "In a most tragic and painful way," says this eulogist of Hamilton, "the shadow of the duel was now in (1801) thrown across Hamilton's career. His eldest sj>n, Philip, aged 18. a noble and high spirited boy, of most brilliant promise, had just been graduated at Columbia college. In the summer of 1801 this yoqng man was bitterly incensed at some foul aspersions on his father which were let fall in a public speech by a political enemy. Meeting this unscrupulous speaker some few evenings later in a box at the theatre, high words ensued, and a challenge was given. The duel took place on the ledge below Weehawken Heights, which was the customary place for such affairs. Young Hamilton fell mortally wounded at the first fire, and was carried home to die. As one reads of the agonized father, on hearing the first alarming tidings, running to summon the doctor and fainting on the way, it comes home to one's heart with a senseof personal affliction. The student of history becomes inured to scenes of woe, but it is hard to be reconciled to such things as the shocking death of this noble boy." It Is "hard" also for "the student of history" to be reconciled to the error evident in Mr. Fiske's account of 'the shocking death of this noble boy." The student of history will doubtless recall that this was not the first time that the "shadow of the duel" had been 'thrown across Alexander Hamilton's career." It will be remembered that after the battle of Monmouth, Hamilton acted in the capacity of Colonel Lauren's second in the duel fought between that officer and General Charles Lee; and It is not forgotten ttfkt throughout the following score of years many of Hamilton's friends fought and bled for him on the 'field of honor." In all this period "the student of history" fails to find that Alexander Hamilton ever even protested against the practice of the code duello. Indeed, how could a man who had participated as second in one of these unhappy affairs afford to protest against "the code?" Nor is it recalled that Hamilton, even when his son was killed, manifested resentment toward the institution of dueling, though of course he could not fail to feel the parental anguish that overwhelmed him when "the noble boy" was mortally wounded at Weehawken. It is | an historical fact that Hamilton, who had acted as Lauren's second and who had tacitly reconciled himself to the j manner of his son's death, did not protest against the code duello until he. himself, was required to act as a principal on the field of honor and to face a man whom he hated and whose char| acter he had maliciously slandered and maliciously libeled. The "foul aspertions" that led Hamilton, the son, to j fight a duel in defense of the honor of Hamilton, the father, are insignificant when compared with the "foul aspertions" upon Aaron Burr, which were Inspired by Hamilton and which compelled Burr to "demand satisfaction." In discussing this subject. It should be remembered that Hamilton lived at a time when Insult and slanders were punishable only by the "code duello." As he had more than once Invoked, or permitted to be invoked, that code in his own behalf, It was hardly to be expected that he would denounce the code the moment Its practice imperiled his own life. And yet "the student of history" must admit that this expectation was sadly disappointed. The moment the question was brought Intimately heme to him, Hamilton did everything he could contrive to avoid meeting "on the field of honor" the man whom he had traduced, and, falling, in this effort, wrote a letter, the effect, if not the intent of which, was to blast the reputation of his political opponent ?a man who had excelled him in valor, defeated him in affairs of the heart and was about to overwhelm him in politics. Thi9 letter of Hamilton's which eulogists of the great Federalist are so fond of quoting and in which he declared that he would not shoot to kill, reads, as Burr said, "like the confession of a penitent monk." Prof. Fiske does not fall to work the melodramatic for all it is worth in his account of the incident that ended at Weehawken. "The unprincipled intrigues of Burr," "Burr was a shallow dreamer," and other like expressions are used to defame Hamilton's antagonist. Hamilton, on the other hand, "had earned the gratitude of his fellow-countrymen by thwarting Burr's schemes in 1801, and he (Hamilton) "now (in 1804) thwarted him (Burr) again." Burr failed of election us a candidate for governor of New York and "vowed for revenge." Precisely where this vow was recorded is not stated; but we are assured that Burr's political propects were already wellnigh ruined" and that "to a wretch like him there was some satisfaction in killing the man who had stood in his way." "The affair," continues Prof. Fiske, "was cool and deliberate. He (Burr) practiced firing at a target whll< In a crafty correspondence he wounc his vile meshes round his enemy, anc at length confronted him with a challenge." And this eminent hlstoriar adds: "Hamilton seems to have accepted it (the challenge) because he felt thai circumstances might still call for hlir to play a leading part in national affairs, and that to decline a challenge might Impair his usefulness." Now, as a matter of history, Burr was from boyhood an expert pistol shot, and, as a matter of history, also, he did not "practice shooting at a target." In the Judgment of the "students of history" Hamilton "seems to have accepted" the challenge because he knew that if a man who had acted as second in a duel, who had permitted friends of his to fight duels in his defense, and who had uttered no word of protest when his own noble son had been killed on the field of honor, declined to accept the challenge of a man he had slandered, his career of usefulness to himself as well as to the nation would be emphatically ended. He seems to have accepted the challenge, also, for the rensori that he felt that Burr desired to kill him and that If he should die by Burr's bullet he would put on end to Burr's political career. These theories are, however, at best, mere conjectures, for it may be said that the truth of this unhappy incident will never be compeltely known. It will always be enveloped with a certain mystery for the reason that the men engaged in it were not a little mysterious. The character of each presented a duality; and, to understand either, "the student of history" will be careful to recognize and reckon with this quality. The article in The Cosmopolitan indicates that Prof. Flske failed to do either.?New Orleans Times-Democrat. MONKEYS NOT GRAMMATICAL. Garner'* Fourteen Year* In the Jangle* of Africa. After fourteen years' study of the thought and speech of the various divisions of the simian family, much of that time being spent in actual and close association with them, Prof. R. L. Garner is convinced that the monkeys are a very narrow-minded and ungrammatical race. Prof. Garner has just returned from his third sojourn in the Jungles of Central Africa. Locked securely in a great iron cage, ten feet square, with bars so thick that the most powerful of wild animals could not reach him, eating and sleeping and "phonographing" and listening and chattering, the professor spent weeks and months at a time remote from human belqgs of any kind and strenuously endeavoring to make the monkeys think that the condition of affairs in the zoological gardens was reversed for their benefit. The professor made his first trip In 1892, remaining in the jungles for two years. His second visit was in 1895, and this time he has been away about two years, but only six months of that ? n.in J ntAM nnAni IM V? A ryloO ptrriuu wa.a opcui. m uic jungicu. His cage was situated in the wildest part of the French Congo. Great care was exercised not to place it on the elephant tracks, lest the big beasts should become too curious, for the professor's bars were not elephant proof. t The hardships undergone by the scientist were terrible. Often he was without food and he had fever thirty-one | times in eleven months. Sickness and privations reduced his weight almost 100 pounds, but he told a reporter for the North American yesterday that he had regained his normal health "People must not expect too much of the monkey language," said the professor. "Thought must exist before the speech is Invented to express it, and necessarily the monkey's range of thought Is limited. "Speech is only the oral expression of thought, and so I was studying the simian thoughts as well as language. For purposes of comparison I separate Intelligence into concepts or groups of thought. To the human perception there are something like one hundred and twenty-five concepts. To the monkey conception there are seven. That shows the difference between the monkey intellect and the human Intellect and should also convey some idea of the extremely crude condition of their language." Prof. Garner says that the monkeys are not at all grammatical. Their words are not joined in phrases and sentences, but they are sticklers on pronunciation. You never hear a chimpanzee dropping his "r's" or slinging his "h's" for instance. The language Is Volapuk among that species of monkey, but there is no general language for the different species or for the monkeys and the birds or the leopards or the snakes. During his last visit, Prof. Garner confined his attentions almost entirely to the chimpanzee, which, he says, is next to man in point of reasoning power. He did not have much luck with the gorilla. The gorilla, he says, is the Indian of the Jungle. He is extremely taciturn and stoical, and never speaks unless it is absolutely necessary, and then as if it were a great effort. For this reason the professor had little or no conversation with them. II a cniTTipauace ivauio iu ou,. "Come, let us go unto the river and drink," he doesn't say it in so many words, but he merely gives a peculiar grunt which means water, thirst, and come along If you want to. If he desires to remark to a neighbor that it is dinner time, he gives another grunt, which the professor has registered in his phonograph, and which means that he is about to begin a search for a cocoanut, or an ant or anything else that will allay the pangs of hunger. The chimpanzee is a very polite monkey. If you give him something he is particularly anxious to get he will ejaculate "Nwa" (pronounced short a, with a French accent, although the professor does not claim any relationship between the language,) meaning "thank you." If he acquires the object through his own exertions, he will also say "Nwa," the professor Interpreting this to mean that he Is either grateful to himself, or that the word when used In that connection signifies "good," or "hurrah," or some similar expression of gratified emotion. The natives have a word, "Nwe," (short e.) which meanB "mother," and they insist that the monkey "Nwa" mean mother, too, but the professor scouts this Interpretation. He did not say so, but It is generally believed that his pet chimpanzee, Jose, told him that there was no truth In It. He admits, however, that "Nwa"?good, thank you, hurrah"?may be a derivative of "Nwa"?mother?in the sense that all good things come from mother. a lie pi uicBDur cAprt'io iu mane ani/iu1 er trip to the French Congo in the near future. He thinks he will have i himself caged at the same place, owing to the fact that he is acquainted there. ' ?Philadelphia North American. CARDS, THEFT DEATH. 1 A Doomed Deserter Who Played and Won. "It Is a curious fact," said a member of company A, Third Maryland, "that military execution had a peculiar fascination for men who were dally accustomed to see hundreds slain in battle. Men who shovel a breastwork In ! on a trench full of slain comrades and chew hardtack or eat salt pork while at the Job with a callousness which only such frequent scenes of occurrences would make possible in the human heart became peculiarly sensitive and alive to the solemn parade and formalities of a military execution. "In our regiment we had a private soldier sentenced to be shot for deserting to the enemy. His name was Thompson, and he belonged to company K. This man Thompson had deserted off vedette post one night and some two months afterward came into our lines, where members of his own company happened to be on picket duty. Thompson did not calculate on this. His idea In coming In was to surrender as a Confederate soldier and be sent north. It happened near to the Weldon railroad, where our division of the Ninth corps was then posted. Of course, on being recognized, he was t&ken to headquarters, and a court martial was immediately convened. It leaked out somehow that Thompson was not the humble soldier he seemed, but a Confederate officer and spy. He had been an officer In the United States navy before the war. He resigned and went south, where he secured the commlsslon of colonel of Infantry. ' neing ^ murymnucr ui laiuu/, <-Lforts were made to save his life, but In a quiet way, as his relatives feared to disclose his real Identity for fear he would be hanged as a spy Instead of shot as a deserter. Friday, the day set for execution In the army of the Potomac, came around too soon for Thompson and his relatives. The night previous he had been informed that all efforts had failed at Washington. I was on guard duty over him, and my brother was one of the detail of twelve men selected as firing squad. My brother didn't like the Job, and came to the tent where I was on guard to consult with me how to get out of It. Thompson overheard our conversation, and knowing my brother by name, he broke In: 'Say, Tip, you must not back out. I want you in the squad, as I know you are a dead shot, and will save me from the sergeant.' "It was the practice for the sergeant If the firing squad failed to kill the doomed man with a volley to place the mii9!9!lo of his rifle asrainst the temple of the prisoner and blow out his brains. "After Tip had consented the officer of the guard permitted us to play cards with the prisoner. He had a roll of bills, and we were soon In a stiff poker game. Two guards, including myself, my brother Tip and Thompson, composed the quartet. We played until gray daylight, and Thompson skinned the party of every dollar. He had phenomenal luck and watched the game closely. "In the afternoon he was to die, and about noon he asked to see the lieutenant of the firing squad. Handing the officer $500, he asked him to divide it equally among the men detailed to shoot him. "The division was drawn up and formed three sides of a square, the fourth sidie being open, where the grave of Thompson was freshly dug. The band played the march in 'Saul,' and Thompson, at the head of the firing squad, marched around the three sides of the square, with the coffin in which he was to be inclosed carried immediately behind him. Reaching the open space, the coffin was set down. Thompson seated himself on the end of it, facing the firing squad, about twelve paces distant. The death warrant was read, and the chaplain tied his handkerchief over the prisoner's eyes. I watched Thompson, curious to note if he would hear the report of the muskets that killed him. Presently I heard the lieutenant's low voice: 'Ready! Aim! Fire!' "In the next Instant Thompson toppled back Into his coffin a dead man. The report of the muskets he never heard, as I saw him swiftly fall over t Vicirri tho puns crack, and so UUU1C i ItVM* u ? >? o- , I settled this disputed point to my own satisfaction, and to that extent the execution of Thompson Interested me and no more."?Washington Post. > ? tv' During the census year (12 months ending May 31, 1900), 57,513 accidental deaths were reported, of which 43,414 were of males and 14,099 of females. *3F The proportion of deaths from accidental causes, In 1,000 deaths from all known causes, was 57.6. In 1890 the corresponding proportion was 53.7. KITCHENS IN PORTO RICO. A Woman's Account of the Housewife's Outfit In the Island. The Porto Rican stove is especially interesting. In shape it is something like a carpenter's bench, about two feet wide, Ave feet long and as high as an ordinary table. The outside frame is of wood, and when the kitchen is freshly painted, the stove must not be neglected. The top and inside are made of bricks and cement so arranged as to leave an opening running from end to end below the fireplaces for a draught. Along the top at regular intervals are four iron fireplaces, Ave inches square and four inches deep, so set into the stove that the tops are on a level with the top of the stove. A maid who often neglects one Are would feel overburdened with the care of these four separate Ares at the same time, as it is necessary with these stoves. The American housewife who prefers to have her food baked, can use a gasolene oven over one of these Ares, and the result is quite satisfactory. But even this oven, however crude and inconvenient, is seen only in the better homes of Porto Rico. Arter good-natured Candida, our Negro cook, has finished her day's work and has found her way down the hill along the steep, narrow path that tleads to "Shacktown," where she lives, if she wishes to prepare an evening meal for hungry children, she will bring out from the corner of the room an empty oil can, which has been given her by the missionary, and which has been, fitted up by the tinsmith with a grate near the top and an opening belo ; for a draught The making of the stove has cost her 20 cents, and she possesses a better outfit for housekeeping than many of her neighbors. The writer had one of these stoves made for her own use, and as it can be easily carried about, it is very convenient. Many times has she sat on a low bench and popped com over the coals in an oil-stove, while one or more wondering natives stood around seeing the operation for the first time, and afterward some of them would try to pop their own com. Charcoal is the fuel used in these stoves, but many of the poor people, too poor to buy charcoal, make their fires with bits of wood and sticks which can be picked up. Small, green bananas are the most common food of the poor people. Cooked with a little codfish they are considered a great treat If I want to give especial pleasure to my cook I furnish the bananas and codfish and she will prepare her favorite dish. We have been called pioneers in Por_la_Rico and. many times what we do and see reminds us of some of the stories we have heard our grandfather tell of the pioneer days out west, when many of the needs of the family were supplied by labor within the household. Many times I have difficulty in buying -1 ?Wl-l. a #awnrlto ortlclc of uuriimcai, muvu ?o ? <.? * w. ? ? ? food In the family. One day after an unsuccessful search for the meal, Candida helped me out of my difficulty by offering to have the corn ground for me In her own mill, and I gladly accepted the offer. Candida's mill, like those seen throughout the interior of the Island, differs little from the mills used in Bible times. If consists of two stones, resenf>ling grindstones, each a foot or morewn diamter and from three to Ave inches In thickness, the "upper and nether millstones" of the Scriptures. The lower stone, which rests on the floor, has its upper surface slightly hollowed, and Into the concavity fits the convexity of the upper stone. Through the center of the upper stone is a hole, through which the corn passes down to the grinding surface between the stones. Near the outer rim is another hole for the end of the handle?a pole seven or eight feet long, with its upper end slipped into loop fastened to a beam above. Occasionally this pole is replaced by a short handle only six or eight inches long, as in the mill used two or three thousand years ago. The women or children who do the grinding sit on the floor, and slowly pour the corn or rice into the central opening as they rotate the upper stone, the fineness of the meal being determined by the amount of pressure, the rate of rotation or the number of times it is passed through the mill. The meal escapes at the sides from between the stones. Travelling along the mountain roads of the interior the "sound of the grinding" can often be heard. It is slow work and tiresome, and the workers have to "change off," but the result is satisfactory and the meal is always fresh. They grind the rice in the same way, and from both kinds of flour Candida can make fritters that are very pleasant to the taste.?American Missionary.. The Kaiser Speaks.?An enterprising British newspaper man has gotten together the following collection of the Kaiser's aphorisms: A law is the expression of the accumulated experience of centuries. Commerce has become a passion, just as much of a passion as love. Never forget that the amenities of life are the life of the amenities. A crown, whether or not it is a divine right, is at any rate a divine responsibility. A good memory is the second requisite of one who governs; a good conscience is the first. The navy is no longer the wooden walls of a country; rather it is a country's iron shield. When a man ceases to remember his honor, it is time that his fellow men should cease to remember him. The sword of justice is double-edged, and when one edge grows duller than its fellow the sword has lost its usefulness. The health of the soldier is the health of the army, and the health of the army is the health of the nation. A